【摘  要】旅游业的竞争归根到底是人才的竞争，导游员作为旅游工作的一线人员，是旅行社和旅游者之间的纽带，也是旅游人才竞争的关键因素之一。本文通过对上海旅游业现状分析，重点研究了上海导游员的现状问题，并就这些问题从增加导游人员数量上和提高导游人员素质等方面提出了一些改进建议。

【关键词】上海；导游现状；导游服务

 

introduction

throughout the past century, shanghai has had numerous name tags attached it, such as the “whore of the east”, the “paris of the orient” and the “pearl of china”. the image of shanghai, more than any other chinese city, is bountiful in the west. as the largest and most prosperous city in the nation, shanghai is the economic, financial and cultural center of china. shanghai as a fast and modern metropolis can attract more and more people from all over the world. it is known to all that shanghai is the city that most visitors will pay a visit. therefore, tourism industry in shanghai is developing rapidly.

in recent years, more and more international meetings are held up in shanghai like apec. on the one hand, it promotes tourism development in shanghai. on the other hand, the tourism industry in shanghai faces the shortage of tour guides, especially the high-leveled tour guides. consequently, this research will focus on the current situations of tour guide service in shanghai.

1．the current situation of tourism industry in shanghai

with the rapid development of the economy in shanghai, tourism is becoming a new and sun rising industry. through the tourist yearbook (2002), you can get the following data. from 1997 to 2002, the number of the foreign visitors increased from 1.65 million to 2.725 million. the average annual increase rate is about 12.22 percent. the foreign exchange earnings are going up from 1.32 billion to 2.28 billion.  the average annual growing rate is to 11.55 percent. and the number of the travelers in home grows from 67.8 million to 87.61 million. the average annual increase rate is about 5.26 percent. the total tourist income will be up to 11.826 billion rmb. the added value in tourism industry occupy from 4.4% to 6.0% among the gdp of shanghai. so the tourism will be a pillar in the third industry.

as it is known to all that in next few years the development of the tourism in shanghai will probably rely on the economic and culture effect caused by the exposition in 2010, which is an unprecedented opportunity for the tourism in shanghai. meanwhile it is a try full of challenges. the successful bid for the expo in 2010 means that shanghai has made great strides to the direction of the international city. it will be the peak period for the tourism industry in shanghai.

the expo will supply three opportunities for the tourism in shanghai. firstly, city tourist resource is becoming richer and more of a distinguishing feature. for the expo in 2010, shanghai will construct a lot of international landscape architectures and best traffic nets and ecological environment. in fact, since 1984, the shanghai municipal government has improved a strategy focusing on the construction of infrastructure, telecommunication and energy facilities. in recent years, the city has pumped some 10% of its gnp and 40% of its total fixed assets investment in to the construction of the city’s infrastructure. secondly, more and more international trade activities will gather up in shanghai. the expo is called the grand meeting of olympics of economy, technology and culture. thirdly, the number of people coming to shanghai for a visit will increase sharply. according to the anticipation, foreign visitors will be over 5.5 million in 2010 and travelers in nation will reach 13 thousand to 15 thousand.

2．the problems of the current tour guide service in shanghai

from the follow description, you will find that the tour guide team in shanghai is in a little disorder. some tour guides without the professional certificate are pursuing this job all the same. additionally there are some tour guides take up this career only as part-time job. for example, a part of tour guides will take advantage of the golden week to show some visitors. as a matter of fact, it seriously affects the market order of the tour guides.

2.1 a lack of the tour guides in shanghai

through the analysis of the tour guide in shanghai, you will come to know the general situation of the distinguishing personality and problems occurring in the tour guide team.

based on the data from the shanghai municipal tourism administrative commission, there are about 15,000 people who own the professional certificates as tour guides in shanghai. however, less than half of them are taking up this career. to our surprise, there are only 10 people who are the super tour guides. many secondary tour guides are still working in the front line. but most of top grade tour guides who have been worked in this line for several years now are the departmental managers. on the contrary, some of the tour guides in shanghai are in short of educational background and practical experience dealing with emergencies.

except the chinese tour guide, similarly a large number of foreign language tour guides are in urgent need. nowadays more and more overseas-funded enterprises crowd into yangtze river delta such shanghai, hangzhou and so on.  shanghai has become a heated destination of the investment for transnational corporations. according to the data information from shanghai statistical bureau, about 190 major transnational companies have invested in shanghai, a city that is directly under the central government with total investment soaring of us dollars 1.98 billion. or some grand activities will be hold up in shanghai. there is no wonder that a good many foreigners from all over the world will enjoy the scenic spots in shanghai more than other cities.

2.2 instability in the field of tour guides in shanghai

presently tour guides in our city is a very young team. the tour guide below 20 years, 21 to 30 years, 31 to 40 years, 41 to 50 years and over 50 years take up 13.3 percent, 56.8 percent, 20.2 percent, 7.4 percent, 2.3 percent respectively based on the report of human resource of tour guide in shanghai. because they are all very young, it is too early for them to decide whether they will work in this field for long. in most cases, the young tour guides take up such occupation in a short period of time. once they get tired of this job, they will try entering another industry. it is easy to find that it will take plenty of time and energy to be a good tour guide.  a tour guide will show different tourists to the same place for several times. and a tour guide should arrange anything for the customers and be more careful. however, most children in shanghai are all the apples in parents’ eye. the youths are interested in the invariable life. in most cases, few of them will take this job as a forever one. moreover shanghai is a city of fast beat. it is more possible that a tour guide will change another job more of opportunities and challenges.

2.3 lower capability of tour guides

in the time being, shanghai has the problem of the shortage of high quality tour guide with high educational background and good morality. of all the tour guides in shanghai, the graduates from senior school of secondary technical school are about 41.7 percent. and the tour guide graduating from junior colleges are only taking up 48.3 percent. few graduates of a bachelor degree will be engaged in the career as tour guides.

in addition, the request to the people who want to attend the test as a tour guide is lower comparatively. the graduates of senior school just can be qualified to take part in the test. it is reported that there are about 6,000 people who will apply to attend in the test this year.

it is because of the low door to the test that tourism industry is in a shortage of both skilled tour guide covering some international guides and interpreters. most of the tour guides in shanghai are not available for the high education and professional techniques.

2.4 misunderstanding of the tour guide career

firstly, many graduates hold the idea that since their major is “tourist management” so they are bound to be a manager even at the initial stage, therefore, it is very common for them to change jobs to avoid the tiring task as a tour guide in the first line.

secondly, some people think that the tour guide should be serve customers. it seems that this career is lower than any other vocations in the rank. but the truth is on the contrary. the tourism industry in shanghai is becoming the key line for the third industry. then the government is paying more attention and cost a lot to this business in order to attract more top tourist talents.

at last, in some people’s eyes, this career is unstable. the tour guide cannot be paid steady income every month. however, in most cases, people think tour guide in shanghai should rely on the backhander from the customer rather than the wage from the tourist agencies.

3. several suggestions on improving tour guide service in shanghai

3.1 improving tour guide capacity

tour guide is a developing occupation in shanghai. of course, tour guides should seek for more improvement during the course of the development. meanwhile tour guides should do more to leave a deep image and impression as a tour guide to the visitors. a good tour guide must be firstly of the merits as follows.

to make better training of the good tour guide, on 6th july 2004, the first tourism talents nurturing base in shanghai is established in shanghai junior college of tourism.

the first nurturing base for tourism talents is built on the cooperation between school and company. the tourism company provides the program with teaching equipments, while the college is responsible for the course design and reaching organization. they are making joint efforts to train high quality tour guides.

additionally the government should strengthen the continual education and training. professional training ensures tourist service quality. the professional skill is very important during the course of training but the vocational ethics also counts a great deal.

3.2 changing concept of tour guide service

as a capable third industry, tourism industry turns out to be a new growth point of our national economy; it plays a positive role in absorbing labor forces.

however, there are some wrong ideas in the job seeking in the tourism industry. for example, as a tour guide there is no need to have a high educational background. tour guide is not a grace job.

actually it is only one-sided aspect. meanwhile this idea is not good for attract the top tour guides. maybe most graduates are holding such idea so that few of them will devote themselves to the tour guide team for long.

on the other hand, tour guide is not a short-term work. similarly, the tour guide should treat this job as other careers. in the first years. they can work in the first line to accumulate the experience then return to stay at the agencies to do some managerial work. in other words, this work provides good opportunities for all the graduates who want to display their abilities.

tourists shall be of correct attitude and idea in front of this business. in particular, as a tourist, he ought too much more respect the work of the guide and understand their occasionally winy mentality.

3.3 enhancing governmental administration of tour guide service in shanghai 

in addition to the improvement of the tour guide himself, the government should take steps to make standard to manage the tour guide market.

as an international tourist city, shanghai must make some regulations to effectively supervise the tour guide service.

if strengthen the competition, the government can heighten the door and establish new managerial mechanism to the tour guide. to improve the quality of the tour guide, the government could let the customers give the feedback so that can fairly evaluate the service. in the long run, it will form a good competition system.

government will create a better working environment for the tour guide. the functional department should propagandize the undeniable record even pay more attention to their life. the government should release the economic pressure of the tour guide so that they will less rely on the kickback from the shopping.

the internal division of labor of the tour guide will be more and more fine. now the tour guide market in shanghai should be divided into five.

conclusion

the thesis mainly focuses on the tour guide service in shanghai. with it’s deepening economic reform, shanghai city, formerly crowned as the financial, economic and trade hub of the far east, is boosting the tourism industry.

the development of the tourism industry will not be off the tour guides. there are some problems in the tour guide service, which baffling the stride of the tourism.

there is a short supply of the origins relevant with the tour guides business. then in this thesis the value to the problem occurring in the tour guide service is limited. and perhaps the advice put forward in the thesis is not all-sided. anyway this thesis can enlighten the reader’s think more as for how to improve the situation of the tour guide service.

references

 

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